Cisco Systems CEO John Chambers emphasized the need Thursday for Congress to advance a "total immigration package" that would increase the ranks of high-skilled workers available to U.S. technology companies.

Chambers made the plea for immigration reform at POLITICO's CEO Roundtable, flanked by tech leaders who also called on Washington to grant permanent residency to foreign students specializing in science, technology, education and math fields.

There's significant interest on Capitol Hill in high-skilled labor reforms — but those efforts remain tied to the far more politically complex issue of comprehensive reform. Chambers appeared to acknowledge that reality, as did other tech leaders on stage.

"It's not going to pass on a standalone basis," later added Steve Case, the chairman and CEO of Revolution LLC and founder of AOL. "The challenge isn't knitting together the high-skilled immigration reform package."

But there's a great sense among tech leaders that fixes to the H-1B program, new STEM green cards and more could create thousands of new jobs, particularly in the tech sector. And Charles Scharf, the CEO of Visa, added that those high-skilled workers would have a multiplier effect. "You bring in really strong people that help you create something great ... and that spawns other jobs themselves," he said.

For now, Case said he had reason to believe the Senate's bipartisan Gang of Eight is committed to the issue — and he urged lawmakers to consider the I-Squared Act and other upper-chamber proposals that increase the pool of temporary skilled laborers and offer green cards to the most talented students.

Weili Dai, co-founder of Marvell Technology Group, agreed — as an engineer and "geek," she said, who was not born in the United States. "Talent, I believe today, is even more important," she said.

This article first appeared on POLITICO Pro at 9:02 a.m. on March 14, 2013.